When we offer a tiny handmade gift that shows another person that we care about them and that they matter, it is a small act but an essential one.
It’s so lovely to brighten another person’s day by delighting them with a tiny handmade comfort gift.
Amazingly enough, that makes your day so much better, too! What a good way to help to create connection, community and hope.
That is why I have designed a whole bunch of charming little woven ‘Kindness Gifts’ and a small simple, eco friendly pin loom, the Kindness loom, that people can make for themselves using just a few household tools and upcycled materials.
The Kindness looms are perfect for weaving all manner of petite, simple and sweet Kindness gifts that are easy to make. They are a lovely a way to say: “I wish you well”.
The Kindness Pin Loom is all about weaving small tokens of caring, kindness, comfort, wishes for good luck, sweet peace and blessings! From the tiniest flying pigs, Lucky Penny pouches, Comfort Bears, Vasilisa Dolls, Angels, Goddesses to ‘Portrait’ Dolls in homage to family and friends, the Kindness Pin Loom can weave them all, because I am designing them with love and best wishes!
Making things that embody joy and whimsy in small things can add up to great goodness, can’t it? Yup. ❤
As I make the pdf’s for the Kindness projects that I have designed to weave on the Kindness Loom and load them up to my etsy shop, where they will be for sale for a modest fee, I’ll post the links to an all links page LINK And, as I make youtube videos on how to weave on the Kindness Loom as well as some freebie projects, I’ll post those links on the same page, too.
PDF FOR STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS SHOWING HOW TO MAKE A UNIQUE KINDNESS LOOM
This PDF of Step by Step Instructions shows how to make a Kindness Pin Loom. It’s the instructions for you to make the loom, not the finished loom. You’ll make your own unique one of a kind Kindness loom using these instructions purchased from my etsy shop.
3– Video tutorial: How to weave a square on the Kindness Loom by Noreen Crone-Findlay
Last week, we went to a baby shower for friends who are soon to be parents.
I was so delighted to see how many handmade gifts were given to this soon to be among us little sweet person!
Quilting, sewing knitting and crochet were all beautifully shared by the extended family. Delightful!
What did we give to the new baby?
Well, since his parents love space and planets, and have decorated the nursery with all many of space and planet images, it seemed like a good idea to me to give Lil Baby a Star Mobile…. yup… from my book: Crochet Stars. With love, of course! ❤
I have loved wooden dolls since I was a very little girl. There is something about a wooden doll that touches my heart deeply. Perhaps it is the energy of the tree still alive in the doll……
I have a very dear friend who is Japanese in origin and Canadian by choice.
Recently, she went back to Japan to visit her parents and help her Mum with a little downsizing.
Her Mum decided that she no longer needed to keep these two Kokeshi dolls that had lived with her for probably more than 50 years.
My sweet friend wrapped them in Furoski wrapping cloths which I also LOVE. I have used the Furoshki method of carrying things since I discovered it about 20 years ago-
Here’s a link to a very useful quick Furoshki tutorial from the Japanese government:
The large Kokeshi doll is very heavy and tall- about 14 inches/36 cm. I love that she still has the bark of the tree on her. Her little sister is about 8 inches/20 cm tall and has the ‘See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’ monkeys hiding behind a bamboo tree. Delightful!
I treasure these elegant old dolls that came around the globe in my friend’s suitcase- what a special gift!
Here is a collection of one of a kind sculptural hand carved wooden spoons that I created a few years ago and am now selling…. I’ve held onto them long enough and now it’s time to let them go out into the hearts and hands of other people. I hope that they will spark delight in people! They CANNOT be used with food, but can stir up creativity and delight and good wishes and fun and blessings and all good things.
Please send me a message if you would like to buy any of these magical spoon sculptures.
I made a little video showing how they look when they are held in my hands.
There are too many photos to put them all in one blog post, in full size, so please go to the video to see the spoons in more detail.
The list of the available spoons with their height and price is below the video.
1- Granny Rules: approximately 7 inches (17 cm) tall: $150 + insurance and shipping
2- Mermaid: approximately 8 inches (20 cm) tall: $150 + insurance and shipping
3- Kitty with a Bird on Her Head :approximately 9 inches (23 cm) tall: $150 + insurance and shipping
4- Large Dancer with the Wind in Her Hair (Rose on her skirt, Compass Rose and Sun and Moon in the spoon) :approximately 9 1/2 inches (24 cm) tall: $250 + insurance and shipping
5- Small Dancer with the Wind in Her Hair (Rose on her skirt, Blue Butterfly in the spoon) :approximately 6 inches (15 cm) tall: $100 + insurance and shipping
6- She Dances with the Moon in her Hair: approximately 8 1/2 inches (22 cm) tall: $175 + insurance and shipping
7- She Dances with the Stars in her Hair: approximately 9 3/4 inches (24 cm) tall: $125 + insurance and shipping
8- The Little Book of Kindness: approximately 6 1/2 inches (16.5 cm) tall: $125 + insurance and shipping
9: Wisdom Owl: approximately 8 inches (20 cm) tall: $100 + insurance and shipping
10: Fairy Door: approximately 7 1/2 inches (19 cm) tall: $100 + insurance and shipping
11- The Heart and Hand: approximately 6 1/2 inches (16.5 cm) tall: $175 + insurance and shipping
12: Star Baby: approximately 5 inches (12.5 cm) tall: $100 + insurance and shipping
13 and 14: Two Girls with Sweaters: approximately 5 inches (12.5 cm) tall: $100 each + insurance and shipping
15, 16 and 17: Three Little Girls who have hugging arms and who inspired me to create the Vasilisa dolls. # 15 is approximately 5 inches (12.5 cm) tall: $150 + insurance and shipping
# 16 is approximately 4 inches (10 cm) tall: $150 + insurance and shipping
# 17 is approximately 3 1/2 inches (9 cm) tall: $150 + insurance and shipping
18: Another of the ‘Vasilisa Doll’ style but she doesn’t have the hugging style arms- she is approximately 3 1/2 inches (9 cm) tall: $100 + insurance and shipping
19- Thank you to the Trees and the Forests!- approximately 4 inches (10 cm) tall: $100 + insurance and shipping
I walked into my studio this morning and was stopped in my tracks by a rainbow , gobsmackingly intense, parked under my wee Structo Loom.
I raced for my camera to catch it before it flickered off to play in another corner of the room.
Such small and fleeting things bring so much joy!
I turned my back and a moment later, the rainbow was gone…..
I hope that unexpected delights will suddenly appear for you too! 🙂
An odd thing has happened with this post…. not only did the rainbow in the studio disappear, but so has the post itself. I’ve been wrestling with getting it to show up again and wondering how and why a post would simply disappear. Sigh…..
The Pixel People are quirky little woven wonderfuls that I designed for the Lily Doll Project.
They began as doodles on graph paper and were so delightful that I had to weave them right away! They are very small, so they are quick to weave and are great little stash busters. (they’re 1 1/2 inch or 3.75 cm square). I always put a ‘Lucky Penny’ and a paper heart inside to make them even more good natured.
They should probably come with a warning that they are so much fun to weave that it becomes quite addictive to weave them. This is really okay, as people love them so much that the Pixel People jump merrily into other people’s hands and hearts and pockets, too.
I am no longer carving wooden dolls, (health issues).
These One of a Kind Wooden Dolls are all for sale. They are $100 each + shipping.
I spent hours making little fitted shimmery vests, and spent more hours messing around with lace for skirts. Sadly, the lace skirts just didn’t cut it.
So, when a dear friend gave me some vintage hankies, I had an ‘aha!’ moment…. and the skirt dilemma was resolved: Tie the hankies on with ribbons. This is a super simple non-sew skirt option that I came up with decades ago for dolls in my book: Soul Mate Dolls: Dollmaking as a Healing Art. It works so well! And, now, I am happy!
Last week I was given two little gifts that made me feel all hippetty skippety and happy….
The first gift was from a dear friend of ours who has just moved and is downsizing. She’s been treasuring a collection of vintage hankies and some linens from her grandmother for years. She asked if I would like to have them and I am so thrilled to have them ❤
The second gift is from my grandson. He’s been learning the ins and outs of 3D printing and decided to print himself a tiny loom. This was so exciting for me, as he’s been weaving with me, on and off all his life. Having him decide to print himself a little loom made me feel all ‘wheee!’. And, then, when he presented me with this tiny loom, joy simply bubbled up all over! It was such a delight to sit with him and do a little weaving together. Sigh…. happy….
Simple little gifts can be such a source of joy….. ❤ and I hope that little treasures and delights will find their way into your life, too! ❤
I bought the Coquelicot Skirt and Apron patterns last summer after seeing several youtube posts and blog posts about how much people were loving this skirt.
They are designed by a Canadian designer, Melanie Boivin (a genius). Her website is: LINK
To be honest, I found the pattern daunting at first, so decided to make a ‘trial’ skirt before I committed to more expensive fabric. BUT! The instructions are beautifully written, and walk you through the making of the skirt step by step, so my concerns vanished as I was sewing the first iteration. In fact, I can now ‘whip up’ a Coquelicot skirt in a snap. Love love love that!
For ‘trial skirt #1: I made it from a thrift shop find- a queen size 100% cotton knit sheet. I wasn’t sure if the knit would be okay or not, but oh my, I love it!
I wore it non stop all summer and decided that I wanted to make skirt #2 in a combination of fabrics that I had set aside for it in a good place. (LOL, of course I can’t find the ‘good place’ where the fabrics are waiting).
I made a couple of changes to the skirt: I like long skirts, so I lengthened it – but I should have copied the knee length pattern first for the apron before I lengthened it for the skirt. Oops.
I am not a fan of using bias tape to bind pocket edges, so instead, I used fabric from a sheet that our little dog dug a hole in when she was being oddly enthusiastic about the joys of digging on our bed. Sigh.
I laid the upcycled lining fabric (cut from the doggied sheet) onto the pocket, stitched on the stitching lines,
turned it right sides out, pressed and topstitched the pocket opening
And made the pockets as shown in the pattern.
I found that the ‘D’ ring closure was uncomfortable, so I changed over to using gross grain ribbon for the ties for the back of the skirt (which are tied in front before the front is tied with self fabric ties)
Before the pandemic, I made a dress from all kinds of upcycled fabric scraps and and a blouse that I bought in a thrift shop because the fabric looked just like origami fabric.
I was no longer wearing the dress, so I wanted to upcycle it again, and decided that the apron would be a great way to do that. When I cut the dress up, I saved the pocket and sewed it onto the apron.
I found some awesome vintage closures that were supposed to be used on tablecloths, but I think of them as suspender clasps. Anyhow, I love how they make the straps super adjustable for adapting to however many layers I am wearing under the apron.
I LOVE the apron! I will make it again, but with fabric that is less ‘precious’ so that I don’t feel guilty about wiping my hands on it!
Knowing that I know that I absolutely love the Coquelicot skirt and find it incredibly comfortable gave me the confidence to go ahead and use some gorgeous wool fabric that I had been given to make another skirt. I practically live in this skirt now. So comfortable, and the hidden, well supported extra generous pockets are THE BEST!
Then I made another one to wear to the wedding of dear friends- also in gorgeous wool suiting that I had been given and have been holding onto until the perfect project came along. This is the perfect project!
I LOVE this skirt sooooooo much! For summer skirts, I am planning on using floral cotton and also linen from curtains that we no longer have on our windows, And, oh yes…. when that elusive black and white fabric re-appears- well! I will grab it and get sewing before it can get away from me again!
Do I recommend this pattern? You betcha! I am enjoying the skirts that I have made from the skirt pattern so much! And once I make the apron in a more ‘get down and dirty and don’t worry about it’ fabric, I will wear it all the time, too. I love aprons and this one is beautifully designed.
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